Oren
A masculine Hebrew name meaning "pine tree".
Name Census estimates that about 5,459 living Americans carry the first name Oren. It is a predominantly male name (99.5% of registrations). The average person named Oren today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Oren births was 2021 (156 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Oren. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
5.5K
~ 1 in 62,787 Americans
Peak year
2021
156 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,380
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Oren
Out of the 9,371 babies given the name Oren since 1880, 99.5% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Oren as a male name
- Ranked #1,380 in 2024
- 136 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (151 births)
Oren as a female name
- Ranked #17,138 in 2022
- 5 female births in 2022
- Peak: 2015 (7 births)
Popularity
Oren: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Oren from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 1,233 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Oren remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Oren by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Oren during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Orens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 35 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Oren, while Tennessee, South Carolina, Idaho recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 105 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Oren
The name Oren has its origins in the Hebrew language. It is derived from the Hebrew word "or," which means "light" or "pine tree." The name can be traced back to ancient times in the Middle East and is believed to have been in use among the Israelites and other Semitic peoples of the region.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Oren is found in the Hebrew Bible, where it is mentioned as the name of a son of Jerahmeel, a descendant of Judah. This reference dates back to around the 6th century BCE.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Oren. One of the most famous was Oren Root (1838-1908), an American lawyer and politician who served as the United States Secretary of War under President Theodore Roosevelt.
Another prominent figure with the name Oren was Oren Lyons (born 1930), a member of the Onondaga Nation and a respected leader and activist for Native American rights. Lyons played a crucial role in the establishment of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations.
In the realm of sports, Oren Smadja (born 1985) is a former professional tennis player from Israel who achieved a career-high ranking of No. 67 in the world. He represented Israel in various international tournaments, including the Davis Cup.
Oren Peli (born 1970) is an Israeli-American filmmaker and writer best known for creating the successful horror film franchise "Paranormal Activity." The first installment, released in 2007, became a cultural phenomenon and spawned several sequels.
Lastly, Oren Rudavsky (born 1956) is an American independent filmmaker and professor of film at Ohio State University. He has directed several acclaimed documentary films, including "A Life Apart: Hasidism in America" and "Colliding Dreams," exploring the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Throughout its history, the name Oren has been borne by individuals from various walks of life, encompassing politicians, activists, athletes, filmmakers, and more. Its Hebrew origins and associations with light and nature have contributed to its enduring appeal across cultures and generations.
People
Oren + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Oren as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with O
Other first names starting with O with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Oren: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Oren?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,459 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Oren going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 62,787 US residents.
Is Oren a common name?
We classify Oren as "Rare". It ranks above 96.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 9,371 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Oren most popular?
The single biggest year for Oren was 2021, when 156 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Oren is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Oren a male name?
Yes, 99.5% of people registered as Oren in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.